I'm including a few new render tests from Z brush using the NPR shader. I'm going to share my overall opinion, if that may be of help to others here.
The software is obviously very powerful, but also pretty restriction in terms of animation. It is intended for artists working on signle images/pieces as opposed to ongoing series such as comic books.
You import obj files, which creates lots of issues with texturing and applying transparency maps to things like eyelashes and hair. Since it is only 2.5D it isn't true 3D, so you are rotating around the object, setting up the right lighting.
A great advantage is being able to sculpt extra detail onto the characters and even using polypainting, so painting directly onto the object, adding new details or textures.
The NPR shader is really powerful. It is a full procedural generator, allowing you to change sliders to create a desired effect, whether that is a painting look, manga style outlines, pencil sketch etc. You can also lay over 12 effects layers to add extra complexity to the final image.
For people looking for a great one piece image I would say this is good software, for people wanting to create a full comic book series I would say this software is too much hard work.
Using a posterize effect in Z brush I have created some nice shadows and outlines, however, they are similar to what mmitchell_houston is creating using Poser software which obviously has the extra advantage of animation etc.
Overall, as much as I like the results I think I am going to stick with Unity and Daz Studio
great effect here , very solid and monumental with the clean shadows
Today I decided to spend a little time playing around with the new La Femme figure to see if she could be fitted into my current workflow. I still need to run some more tests to see how well she adapts to Victoria 4 poses. To be honest, I should have worked on her expression a little more, but overall I like some of the new features the figure has to offer. The fabric draping was simulated in the Cloth Room.
As usual, this was created with Poser Pro 11 and Clip Studio Paint.
great job with the cloth room drape - I always find the cyan interesting - as compared to t he dark darks
, unfortunately La Femme won;t import into Carrara without the joints breaking
I have realised, that renders from FlowScape, are not enough NPR,
so I put one of the renders to PicToPainting filter in PaintShop Ultimate and the result is below.
I am not sure, if it is enough NPR, but it does not look realistic to me.
Dude, this is SERIOUSLY NPR. Very abstract. It reminds me of the work of a specific painter, but I cannot think of his/her name right now, The lens flare effect is very interesting, but for me it's the sharp angles in the trees that are really fascinating. Cool work.
Thanks a lot. Have to experiment more with these filters.
A (not so) quick render of the hubby, John, his dog (except we have a Shih Tzu/Cocker Spaniel mix, not a Pug), Me and my cat (who is a Tortoishell). Gotta work with the tools we've got. Haha
A (not so) quick render of the hubby, John, his dog (except we have a Shih Tzu/Cocker Spaniel mix, not a Pug), Me and my cat (who is a Tortoishell). Gotta work with the tools we've got. Haha.
Very cute. The figures are coming along nicely. And I tried finding you a shih tzu model, but don't see one. Talk about a serious gap in our potential resources! As for El Gato, I think you can find a cat closer to your real-life overlord if you dig a little deeper over at R'osity or Hivewire.
As for a suggestion, take a closer look at hubby's hair. I think you need to either refine your process to show more detail, or play around with the materials settings. Right now it's coming out as too much of a blob of blackness on his head. It's not really bad, but it's not great, either.
WOW. I love seeing the same model processed with three different styles. That first one has a Van Gough feel to it (colors and sharp lines, mostly). I think I like the final (blueish) one best. If I weren't so invested in Topaz Studio, I might give this a try (and by invested, I don't mean it's the money, I mean the time I've spent working with it to master its interface and workflow – plus, although I love these dramatic effects, they are not quite what I'm interested in doing for my own (increquent) color work).
FYI (not that anyone likely cares), but I haven't posted anything lately because I'm tied up with a project that require a little more discretion than usual. However, I am also working on a cover for an RPG supplement, so I will start posting some concept sketches and artwork shortly.
FYI (not that anyone likely cares), but I haven't posted anything lately because I'm tied up with a project that require a little more discretion than usual. However, I am also working on a cover for an RPG supplement, so I will start posting some concept sketches and artwork shortly.
I care! Actually, I've been a quiet follower of the thread recently, as I've really just gotten bogged down with my own things recently, as well.
I meant to respond way back to my other post that I put up, and agree with you that my stuff is no longer having that NPR feeling. I do think, however, that perhaps what I'm shooting for isn't NPR at all. It may have started that way, but now I seam to have slowly migrated into a different category... Really, the idea of NPR is so fuzzy in my brain now that it's hard for me to tell what is an is not something that would count. I started dabbling with Daz to try to make line outlines for 2D paintings, and then it evolved into me trying to make comics work with DAZ. I think that there is such a disasociation between the images and the words when it comes to 3D comics that they often don't work too well together, so I was trying to figure out how to "flatten" my renders, if that makes sense at all. Now, I'm left with something that I'm not even sure is NPR. I know you've qualmed my concerns of spamming in the past, but I feel that I'm drifting from the NPR area and maybe I should find a new way to classify my style...
Is this NPR, or is this just heavily stylized? More importantly, could you see this style combined with word baloons to a positve effect?
WOW. I love seeing the same model processed with three different styles. That first one has a Van Gough feel to it (colors and sharp lines, mostly). I think I like the final (blueish) one best. If I weren't so invested in Topaz Studio, I might give this a try (and by invested, I don't mean it's the money, I mean the time I've spent working with it to master its interface and workflow – plus, although I love these dramatic effects, they are not quite what I'm interested in doing for my own (increquent) color work).
But still... DAMMMMMMN!
Thanks a lot for the comments. I like, how these filters keep changing the renders to something different.
Its funny you mentioned his hair. He commented on it himself. He recently clipped it really short, so I need to change it anyway.
It’s A (not so) quick render of the hubby, John, his dog (except we have a Shih Tzu/Cocker Spaniel mix, not a Pug), Me and my cat (who is a Tortoishell). Gotta work with the tools we've got. Haha.
Very cute. The figures are coming along nicely. And I tried finding you a shih tzu model, but don't see one. Talk about a serious gap in our potential resources! As for El Gato, I think you can find a cat closer to your real-life overlord if you dig a little deeper over at R'osity or Hivewire.
As for a suggestion, take a closer look at hubby's hair. I think you need to either refine your process to show more detail, or play around with the materials settings. Right now it's coming out as too much of a blob of blackness on his head. It's not really bad, but it's not great, either.
i said that it’s funny you should mention the hair. He commented on it himself. He recently clipped his hair really short, so I have to change it anyway.
...it’s funny you should mention the hair. He commented on it himself. He recently clipped his hair really short, so I have to change it anyway.
Here's John Michael sporting his buzzed cut and me...just being me.
The shorter hair works better with this style. I like it. Just a thought: Can you make the eyebrows a little smaller? They are okay, but a bit large for the faces.
PicToPainting filters applied to Daz Studio portrait render of the character created with Face Transfer.
Wow, you are one busy beaver! Lots of good styles here. I really like the illustrative look that some of these have (not a big fan of the one with the squiggles all over his face, but that's just my preference). Very cool linework on that last one, by the way. Are these the default settings, or are you customizing them?
FYI (not that anyone likely cares), but I haven't posted anything lately because I'm tied up with a project that require a little more discretion than usual. However, I am also working on a cover for an RPG supplement, so I will start posting some concept sketches and artwork shortly.
I care! Actually, I've been a quiet follower of the thread recently, as I've really just gotten bogged down with my own things recently, as well.
I meant to respond way back to my other post that I put up, and agree with you that my stuff is no longer having that NPR feeling. I do think, however, that perhaps what I'm shooting for isn't NPR at all. It may have started that way, but now I seam to have slowly migrated into a different category... Really, the idea of NPR is so fuzzy in my brain now that it's hard for me to tell what is an is not something that would count. I started dabbling with Daz to try to make line outlines for 2D paintings, and then it evolved into me trying to make comics work with DAZ. I think that there is such a disasociation between the images and the words when it comes to 3D comics that they often don't work too well together, so I was trying to figure out how to "flatten" my renders, if that makes sense at all. Now, I'm left with something that I'm not even sure is NPR. I know you've qualmed my concerns of spamming in the past, but I feel that I'm drifting from the NPR area and maybe I should find a new way to classify my style...
Is this NPR, or is this just heavily stylized? More importantly, could you see this style combined with word baloons to a positve effect?
Never apologize for lurking. We all have lots of stuff to do and sometimes it's better to spend our limited time creating art than commenting on it.
Glad to know I'm missed. :-) I really am working on stuff, but one of them is a contest piece for R'osity's Halloween contest and I'm not allowed to post any prelim work online (against contest rules). I'm also doubling that work up as a cover for a fanzine (which won't come out until after Halloween, so there's no conflict with the contest rules). And the other job is the aforementioned RPG supplement. The tough part of this one is I need to find some figures that match the alien races in the game. Not an easy task, but I'm making headway. Hopefully I'll have something to show by the end of this weekend.
Thanks for the info on how your style is developing. I think it's cool that you're letting your art take you where it wants you to go, rather than forcing your style to be something it doesn't want to be. I also know what you mean about wanting to "flatten" the renders. At least I think i get it.
As to your question about your artwork and comics. Well.. Non-Photo Realistic is a broad, catch-all category that really means anything that isn't trying to look real. By that, these days that mostly means Iray or Superfly with lots of detail. It also means something that has been styled to look like it was created with traditional media tools. So, to be honest, I think you're right on the edge. I would guess that this illustration had its origins in 3D. But I have an eye for that, so we have to take that for what it's worth. Would the average person think this was painted traditionally? I dunno... maybe.
Now, how would this look with word baloons? Only one way to tell. Do it. Add a background of some kind and add some word balloons and see how it looks. Also, be willing to try a few different styles of word balloons (thick outlines, thin outlines, no outlines -- just don't try semi-transparent, that never really works). I also suggest adding some panel borders and making a page with this style (remember to keep your backgrounds simple) and see what you get.
As for examples, I suggest you go back and look at Alex Ross' work on Kingdom Come and Marvels so you can see how a painted comic can look with traditional-looking captions and word balloons.
The shorter hair works better with this style. I like it. Just a thought: Can you make the eyebrows a little smaller? They are okay, but a bit large for the faces.
Sorry, but the eyebrows stay. We both have thick ones.
PicToPainting filters applied to Daz Studio portrait render of the character created with Face Transfer.
Wow, you are one busy beaver! Lots of good styles here. I really like the illustrative look that some of these have (not a big fan of the one with the squiggles all over his face, but that's just my preference). Very cool linework on that last one, by the way. Are these the default settings, or are you customizing them?
Those are just at the default setting, but one can adjust the strength of the effect.
Below is Retro pop preset applied at the lower strength.
Comments
great effect here , very solid and monumental with the clean shadows
great job with the cloth room drape - I always find the cyan interesting - as compared to t he dark darks
, unfortunately La Femme won;t import into Carrara without the joints breaking
Thanks a lot. Have to experiment more with these filters.
Another batch of renders from FlowScape, processed with PicToPainting.
... another one
... and ...
... and the last one.
These are all fasccinating. I'm very impressed with this one. Any chance you could post the original render for a side-by-side comparison?
Thanks. Below is the one I have put into Corel PaintShop (actually Corel is on HumbleBundle - just bought it for full Corel Painter 2019).
A (not so) quick render of the hubby, John, his dog (except we have a Shih Tzu/Cocker Spaniel mix, not a Pug), Me and my cat (who is a Tortoishell). Gotta work with the tools we've got. Haha
Yet another conversions in PicToPainting...
Very cute. The figures are coming along nicely. And I tried finding you a shih tzu model, but don't see one. Talk about a serious gap in our potential resources! As for El Gato, I think you can find a cat closer to your real-life overlord if you dig a little deeper over at R'osity or Hivewire.
As for a suggestion, take a closer look at hubby's hair. I think you need to either refine your process to show more detail, or play around with the materials settings. Right now it's coming out as too much of a blob of blackness on his head. It's not really bad, but it's not great, either.
Looking forward to seeing more!
WOW. I love seeing the same model processed with three different styles. That first one has a Van Gough feel to it (colors and sharp lines, mostly). I think I like the final (blueish) one best. If I weren't so invested in Topaz Studio, I might give this a try (and by invested, I don't mean it's the money, I mean the time I've spent working with it to master its interface and workflow – plus, although I love these dramatic effects, they are not quite what I'm interested in doing for my own (increquent) color work).
But still... DAMMMMMMN!
FYI (not that anyone likely cares), but I haven't posted anything lately because I'm tied up with a project that require a little more discretion than usual. However, I am also working on a cover for an RPG supplement, so I will start posting some concept sketches and artwork shortly.
I care! Actually, I've been a quiet follower of the thread recently, as I've really just gotten bogged down with my own things recently, as well.
I meant to respond way back to my other post that I put up, and agree with you that my stuff is no longer having that NPR feeling. I do think, however, that perhaps what I'm shooting for isn't NPR at all. It may have started that way, but now I seam to have slowly migrated into a different category... Really, the idea of NPR is so fuzzy in my brain now that it's hard for me to tell what is an is not something that would count. I started dabbling with Daz to try to make line outlines for 2D paintings, and then it evolved into me trying to make comics work with DAZ. I think that there is such a disasociation between the images and the words when it comes to 3D comics that they often don't work too well together, so I was trying to figure out how to "flatten" my renders, if that makes sense at all. Now, I'm left with something that I'm not even sure is NPR. I know you've qualmed my concerns of spamming in the past, but I feel that I'm drifting from the NPR area and maybe I should find a new way to classify my style...
Is this NPR, or is this just heavily stylized? More importantly, could you see this style combined with word baloons to a positve effect?
Whichever, Duckbomb, I love the look!
Thanks a lot for the comments. I like, how these filters keep changing the renders to something different.
PicToPainting filters applied to Daz Studio portrait render of the character created with Face Transfer.
... and more ...
Hey thanks! I’m really encouraged to hear that!
My reply got lost....
i said that it’s funny you should mention the hair. He commented on it himself. He recently clipped his hair really short, so I have to change it anyway.
Rob
Here's John Michael sporting his buzzed cut and me...just being me.
The shorter hair works better with this style. I like it. Just a thought: Can you make the eyebrows a little smaller? They are okay, but a bit large for the faces.
Wow, you are one busy beaver! Lots of good styles here. I really like the illustrative look that some of these have (not a big fan of the one with the squiggles all over his face, but that's just my preference). Very cool linework on that last one, by the way. Are these the default settings, or are you customizing them?
Never apologize for lurking. We all have lots of stuff to do and sometimes it's better to spend our limited time creating art than commenting on it.
Glad to know I'm missed. :-) I really am working on stuff, but one of them is a contest piece for R'osity's Halloween contest and I'm not allowed to post any prelim work online (against contest rules). I'm also doubling that work up as a cover for a fanzine (which won't come out until after Halloween, so there's no conflict with the contest rules). And the other job is the aforementioned RPG supplement. The tough part of this one is I need to find some figures that match the alien races in the game. Not an easy task, but I'm making headway. Hopefully I'll have something to show by the end of this weekend.
Thanks for the info on how your style is developing. I think it's cool that you're letting your art take you where it wants you to go, rather than forcing your style to be something it doesn't want to be. I also know what you mean about wanting to "flatten" the renders. At least I think i get it.
As to your question about your artwork and comics. Well.. Non-Photo Realistic is a broad, catch-all category that really means anything that isn't trying to look real. By that, these days that mostly means Iray or Superfly with lots of detail. It also means something that has been styled to look like it was created with traditional media tools. So, to be honest, I think you're right on the edge. I would guess that this illustration had its origins in 3D. But I have an eye for that, so we have to take that for what it's worth. Would the average person think this was painted traditionally? I dunno... maybe.
Now, how would this look with word baloons? Only one way to tell. Do it. Add a background of some kind and add some word balloons and see how it looks. Also, be willing to try a few different styles of word balloons (thick outlines, thin outlines, no outlines -- just don't try semi-transparent, that never really works). I also suggest adding some panel borders and making a page with this style (remember to keep your backgrounds simple) and see what you get.
As for examples, I suggest you go back and look at Alex Ross' work on Kingdom Come and Marvels so you can see how a painted comic can look with traditional-looking captions and word balloons.
I'm looking forward to seeing what you create!
Sorry, but the eyebrows stay. We both have thick ones.
Those are just at the default setting, but one can adjust the strength of the effect.
Below is Retro pop preset applied at the lower strength.
Another Daz Studio render processed with Pic to Painting (Slumber preset).
One more with Hover Transport - https://www.daz3d.com/hover-transport
and watercolor preset in Pic to Painting.